Ask Governor Herbert to protect our immigrant communities

Originally posted on Action Utah. To see the original post, click here

(UPDATED) Since taking office, Trump has signed a series of executive orders aimed at our immigrant community. Last week we witnessed the beginning of the administration’s promise to deport immigrants with ICE raids occurring across the country. According to the Washington Post, “U.S. immigration authorities arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in at least a half-dozen states” sending shock waves throughout our immigrant community.

Our state governors have more power than we realize. They have the ability to lobby the federal government and can take steps to block immigration authorities. We’ve already seen some governors take bold action, such as Kate Brown (D-OR) prohibiting state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration officials and Jerry Brown’s (D-CA) promise to protect immigrant rights. Our governors need to develop policies to protect immigrants, many who have been here since childhood, from harsh and inhumane practices.

While Salt Lake City in many ways acts like a sanctuary city, it technically is not. Because the city does not control its jails, ICE agents have access to the people in the jails, arrest records and citizenship status. Salt Lake City immigrant protections cover only the Salt Lake population, or 7% of the state of Utah.

CALL TO ACTION

Call Governor Gary Herbert at (801) 538-1000 to ask him to take measures to protect immigrant communities in Utah.

Ask Governor Herbert NOT to use the Utah National Guard in a potential White House deportation operation – News came out last week about a leaked WH draft memo detailing plans by the Trump administration to use 100,000 National Guard troops from across the Southwest and Texas to round up millions of immigrants for deportation. While the White House denies the veracity the leaked document, staffers in several offices at the Department of Homeland Security admitted that discussions about it have been underway. Tell Governor Herbert to deny the use of Utah National Guard for Trump’s deportation operation.

Sign this petition to Governor Herbert asking him to keep the Utah National Guard out of Donald Trump’s deportation, trending now on our Petitions, Petitions! page.

Tips on what to say: Be polite and respectful to the staff member who answers your call. Be brief and to the point. Try to personalize your call in any way you can. For example, tell them a personal story about why this matters to you.

Tell them your name, that you are a constituent and what city and zip you are from.

Ask what steps the governor is taking to protect our immigrant community from aggressive deportation tactics of the Trump administration.

IF CLEAR STEPS ARE IDENTIFIED – thank Governor Herbert for standing for the immigrants in Utah.

IF UNKNOWN OR CLEAR STEPS ARE NOT IDENTIFIED – urge Governor Herbert to take action in supporting and protecting the immigrant communities in Utah. Remind him that we have undocumented immigrants who are productive and valued members of our community that need protection from the Trump agenda.